f) Mid/Low Back and Bottock

Never assume the root cause of a problem is at the place that hurts!

The solution for your back pain may be simpler that you’ve been led to believe. Many people are haunted by the fear that pinch nerves, ruptured discs, or arthritis are causing their back pain, when there’s a good chance that their pain may be coming solely, or at least in part, from myofacial trigger points in muscles. Even when back pain is due to genuine problems in the vertebral column, myofascial trigger points always contribute a major part of the pain. In fact, there’s reason to believe that trigger points are the root cause of many spinal problems because of the muscle tension then maintain. Muscle tension displaces vertebrae and causes compression of nerves and disks. When investigating back pain, trigger points should be at the top of the list, because pain that comes from trigger points is usually self-treatable (Travell and Simons 1999, 804-809)…

The reason there are so many different opinions about the cause of back pain is that it’s mostly refered pain. This especially true of low back pain. You may never find the real cause of low back pain if you look for it in the low back. The reverse is also true : trigger points in the low back often refer pain down to the bottocks and hips. In addition, trigger points in the abdomen and psoas muscles can send pain to the back, though they’re easily overlooked, even by people who know trigger points well…

Confusing the issue further, back pain is usually a composite, with components sent from trigger points both above and below where you feel the pain. The key to succes in self-treating back and buttochs pain lies in your troubleshooting skills…

Source : Clair Davies, The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook, p.162.